The story from my family is about my great uncle, William Douglas Brewer, who survived being torpedoed in the Mediterranean by German pilots. During WWII, he was in the Navy serving on the U. S. S. Lansdale as a rank of E5. When the U. S. S. Lansdale sank having a life preserver is what kept him alive until the Coast Guard could get the survivors. His time spent floating in the ocean is what made him change his life. To make this story go more in depth, the research questions will help this process. These questions will help create a clearer understanding of the situation.
Some of the other questions are what mission was the U. S. S. Lansdale on and what was another take of the ships sinking? Also, how many sailors survived? What is the history of the U. S. S. Lansdale? What types of planes were used in the attack and what were their tactics? What happened to Germans after being captured by Americans in WWII? During WWII, how many ships survived being torpedoed? What dangers did they face while waiting to be rescued in the water? These questions will help give the story greater significance and create a better understanding of the circumstances during that time.
The sources that were included were the ones that gave the most informative answer to the question. Excluded sources were the ones that either did not fully answer the question or were not relevant to the subject at hand. The annotated bibliography will allow the reader to gain more information on what was going on at that point in the war, and the significance of this time. Sources Bishop, Chris. Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Singapore: Barnes and Noble Inc. , 1998. Print. This comprehensive encyclopedia of world war II weaponry provides details of weapons ranging from pistols to bomber aircraft.
For each weapon system, there is a brief history and a list of specifications. This will give the reader an insight to what types of planes was used during most attacks on convoys and what each plane was equipped with in the attack. “Longest serving medium bomber of the Luftwaffe, the Heinkel He 111 stemmed from a design by Siegfried and Walter Gunther for a dual-purpose commercial transport/bomber produced in 1934 and flown on 24 February 1935. ” (Bishop) “The first version to carry torpedoes was the He 111H-6, followed by the He 111H-15; the He111H-8 was fitted with a large and cumbersome balloon cable fender…” (Bishop)
Browning, Robert. U. S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1996. Web. In the U. S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II, the author Robert Browning discusses the many attacks of American merchant ships in WWII. He gives an account of the attacks on the convoys of merchant vessels and lone vessels. He goes into detail on each account of the attacks and tells not only about the ship but also about the men themselves. This is important to my story because the destroyer my great uncle was on was in a convoy with three merchant ships.
This will give the reader more information on how and why merchant ships were so vital in WWII. “The American merchant marine thus played a vital role in Allied victories during the war. ” (Browning) “This tremendous worldwide endeavor, however, cost the lives of thousands of men and the demise of more than 700 US ships. ” (Browning) “The War Shipping Administration designated cargoes for ships based on the logistical needs of the war. ” (Browning) Heath, Ian. Eagles over North Africa and the Mediterranean 1940-1943. Jeffrey Ethell. London: Greenhill Books, 1997. Print. Luftwaffe at War.
Eagles over North Africa and the Mediterranean is a book in a series about the German Luftwaffe in WWII. Which provides photographs and details about the various aircraft flow by the German air force during this time. In the listed theater of operations there is details on each aircraft used and how they were operated during WWII. This is important to readers in order to explain how the ships were attacked by the Germans. “Forward-firing twenty mm cannon in the ventral blister gave the aircraft an excellent punch for the anti-shipping sorties it flew across the Mediterranean. ” (Ethell)
The Junkers Schnellbomber (high-speed bomber) was probably Germany’s most capable aircraft, being adapted to more roles than any other type. ” (Ethell) “Anti-shipping strikes by Ju 88 units were quite successful, as these men from 7/KG 30 point out on the tail of their Ju88A-4 in North Africa. ” (Ethell) Morison, Samuel. The Two-Ocean War. Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, 1963. Print. Morison who was a professor at Harvard. Wanted to write a history during the event so after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He went to the president with his idea.
The president had him appointed a lieutenant commander in the U. S. Navy. Morison then served aboard eleven different ships earning seven battle stars, while writing a detailed history of the U. S. Navy during WWII. This is important to the reader because it gives some details regarding the attacks during WWII on the Navy side of the war. “The only convoy roughly handled was an eastbound one on 20 April, in which destroyer Lansdale was sunk and S. S. Paul Hamilton, carrying 500 men of the Army Air Force and a crew of eighty, blew up with the loss of all hands. ” (Morison) “In April 1944, the German air offensive grew more intense. ” (Morison)
Elaborate tactics were worked out, with lines of acetylene float lights as long as sixty miles, and intensely bright flares, and coordinated bombing attacks similar to those that we have described the Japanese using off Makin. ” (Morison) Osborne, Charles, Shelton Cotler. Prisoners of War. Ronald Bailey. Morristown: Time-life Books Inc. , 1981. Print. World War II. The book on Prisoners of War in World War II has pictures and details of prisoners held by both the allies and the axis powers. This book gives details of how the allies followed international law and provided humane care for their prisoners.
However, it also tells how the axis powers especially the Japanese mistreated their prisoners causing many to die. The Germans play both roles as some of the prisoners are well taken care of while others are abused. This is important to the reader so they can understand what happens to military people after they are captured by their enemy, that not all were greatly abused. “What they found amazed them: clean barracks and good health care, food so plentiful that they wrote their families to stop sending gift parcels, and canteens full of consumer goods not seen in Europe for years. (Bailey)
“Reports from prisoners’ letters home describing their captivity in America spread among German troops and influenced large numbers to surrender. ” (Bailey) “Amenities that were considered luxurious in the camps of their own armed forces-among them modern plumbing and well-stocked canteens-were common place in American POW camps. ” (Bailey) “In the evening and on days off from work, POWs in American camps were free to engage in a wide range of activities. ” (Bailey) United States, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Washington, 1959.
In the book Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships by the Naval History Division discusses all the ships in the navy and what their mission was, specifically the U. S. S. Lansdale. It tells of what the ship was doing the days before being torpedoed. This excerpt out of the book is important because it tells what the U. S. S. Lansdale was doing prior to its sinking. This will give the reader so insight on the ships whereabouts and what they were doing before their demise. “Leaving UGC-37 on 12 April, Lansdale escorted three merchant ships from Oran to westbound convoy UGS-36. (Naval History Division)
“Though warned of possible attack during the afternoon and evening, the ships had little chance to avoid the strike unleashed by the Germans shortly after 2100. ” (Naval History Division) Wales, Charles. “The sinking of the U. S. S. Lansdale. ” The Berkshire Eagle. 6 Nov. 2008. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. This article by Charles Wales gives his account of when the U. S. S. Lansdale was torpedoed. He told that, “she was attacked from both port and starboard sides. ” (Wales) The rest of his story gives specifics on how the ship slowly broke in two.
He also tells of how they were rescued and the conflicts they had to be rescued safely. This is important because it gives the reader a firsthand account on what happened to the ship. “Lansdale’s guns hit one as it passed down the starboard side and splashed well astern. ” (Wales) “It was well after dark now, and we were in waters with German submarines operating, so use of search lights to locate survivors was out. ” (Wales) “In talking with some of my shipmates, I learned that some of the men simply could not handle the situation, the cold, the oil and the fright, and they apparently simply gave up. (Wales) Rejected Sources Krammer, Arnold.
“Hitler’s Soldiers in the Sunshine State: German POWs in Florida. ” Journal of Southern History, vol. 67, no. 3, 2001, p. 694. Web. In this article Krammer discusses the rise in research being done to gain more knowledge of the German POW camps in the US during WWII. He discusses in the greatest detail about the camps in Florida. He tells what some of the camps were like and what the POWs did in the camps. This article was rejected because it did not fully answer the question it was meant to answer.
Of the 378,000 German soldiers incarcerated in the United States during the war, about 10,000 spent part or all of their time in Florida, and not in the tourist bureau’s Sunshine State but rather in the rural Florida of swamps, woods, sugarcane fields, and old-time county sheriffs with shotguns and dogs. ” (Krammer) “Most POWs in the second wave, which lasted form the middle of 1944 to 1945, went to airfields and military bases, where they worked in officer clubs, laundries, and hospitals. ” (Krammer) Zoet, Charlene. “Former P. O. W. shares his story-good, bad & ugly. The Tennessean. Gannett Co. , Inc. , 10 Nov. 2008. Web. 6 Nov. 2016. In this article written by Charlene Zoet, she is interviewing a man who was drafted into WWII.
He tells of his capture and all the events that happened during his capture. He tells of everything that happened to him in the German camp good and bad. This article has good information regarding a story of a POW in WWII but it is irrelevant to the reader. “He is grateful to the German Guard who was kind to them and the compassionate Captain that kept them from being harmed before they were rescued by the US. ” (Zoet) I dodged bullets, walked for miles without a break and suffered a lot of things, but the desire for food was the most difficult part. ” (Southall, Zoet)
“For his courageous efforts, he was awarded the 010 Bronze Star Medal, 019 POW Medal, 028 American Campaign Medal, 030 European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and Bronze Star Attachment Triple, 031 World War II Victory Medal, 049 Combat Infantryman Badge, 1st Award and the 068 Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII, and was named “Chevalier” of the Legion of Honor by the President of the French Republic, an award for services rendered to France by persons of great merit. ” (Zoet)
